Three Tragic Actresses: Siddons, Rachel, Ristori

Description

This book examines the careers of three performers whose professional lives together spanned the period from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth centuries, from the heyday of neo-Classicism to the coming of Realism. While the individual essays concentrate on the specific work of Siddons, Rachel and Ristori, a wide-ranging introduction relates their collective achievement to social and cultural change. All three rejuvenated a national repertoire and experimented with new forms of dramatic literature, achieving fame far beyond the boundaries of their own country. As they redefined the nature of tragic experience, as strong and independent women, they contributed greatly to changing concepts of gender and sexuality. Vivid reconstructions of their interpretations and unique accounts of theatrical conditions place the art of three very different but pivotal figures in context.

"...this study offers sensitive explications of the acting of each, accomplished with authority and clarity." D.B. Wilmeth, Choice "Each essay provides a brief scholarly and informative treatment of its subject, with somewhat different emphases." University of Toronto Quarterly "...the detailed and scholarly individual essays make this book a valuable resource." Anne Russell, Comparative Drama